Plot: The play focuses on the Harrington family, who are spending a holiday together in their cottage in Suffolk, England. There is a snobbish mother, Louise, who fancies herself a Parisian aristocrat; a working class father, Stanley, who has done quite well for himself and his family in the furniture business; a troubled and sensitive son, Clive, who is just entering college, drinks too much, and is trying to find himself; and a smart-mouthed, feisty, fourteen-year-old daughter, Pamela. The fifth character is a young German music tutor, Walter, employed by the Harrington’s to teach Pamela to play piano.
Character: Walter
Monologue:
Clive? What's the matter? Are you all right? Why are you sitting in the dark? I've been talking to your father. He thinks you hate him. Clive, listen to me. The Kings of Egypt were gods. Everything they did was right, everything they said was true, everyone they loved became important. And when they died, they grew faces of gold. You must try to forgive your parents for being average and wrong when you worshipped them once. Why are you so afraid? Is it - because you have no girlfriend? Oh, you are so silly. Silly. Do you think sex will change you? Put you into a different world, where everything will mean more to you? I thought so, too, once. I thought it would change me into a man so my father could never touch me again. I didn't know exactly what it would be like, but I thought it would burn me and bring me terrible pain. But afterwards, I'd be strong and very wise. There was a girl in Muhlbach. She worked in her mother's grocery shop. One night I had a few drinks and, just for a joke, I broke into her bedroom through the window. I stayed with her all night. And I entered heaven. I really did. Between her arms was the only place in the world that mattered. When daylight came, I felt I had changed for ever. A little later I got up. I looked round, but the room was exactly the same. This was incomprehensible. It should have been so huge now - filled with air. But it seemed very small and stuffy and outside it was raining. I suppose I had thought, 'Now it will never rain again,' because rain depresses me, and I was now a man and could not be depressed. I remember, I hated the soap for lying there in the dish just as it had done the night before. I watched her putting on her clothes. I thought: 'We're tied together now by an invisible thread.' And then she said: 'It's nine o'clock: I must be off' - and went downstairs to open the shop. Then I looked into the mirror: at least my eyes would be different. They were a little red, yes - but I was exactly the same - still a boy. Rain was still here. And all the problems of yesterday were still waiting. Sex by itself is nothing, believe me. Just like breathing - only important when it goes wrong. And Clive, this only happens if you're afraid of it. What are you thinking? (He pauses.) Please talk to me.
Plot: Andrew and his wearily frustrated wife Clare are spending the weekend in their Gloucestershire cottage, which, like their marriage, is well in need of repair. Ralph, an old friend of Andrew's, visits and remembers their shared radical youth. Ralph brings Andrew face to face with his own spiritual bankruptcy and the latter finally unburdens himself to his visitor. Clare leaves, the house decays rapidly and Ralph helps Andrew to regain his integrity, but at a price as in the last few minutes of the show, Ralph is crushed by a falling celling.
Character: Dave
Monologue:
Poor old Ralph. I'd never seen anyone dead before. (Pause.) Actually, that's not true. There was someone. My Dad's auntie. She was funny in the head. She thought she could flap her arms up and down and fly like a bird. They had her put away. But then, when she got older, Dad thought she should come and live with us. We had a house in the country, in Essex. Dad thought she should end her days with the family and not in a loony bin. The house was very unusual. Tall and thin. And there was trees all round it. There was a gap in the trees, and through that gap you could see the Colchester to London railway line. My old aunt loved to watch the trains go by. They gave her a room on the top floor so she could see the trains clearly. They kept the window locked, just in case. One day she managed to prise the window open. She crawled onto the window-sill, flapped her arms up and down, and jumped. Poor old darling. Mum rushed out and found her. 'Don't look,' she said, but of course I did. Wasn't nasty or frightening. Just a funny bundle of clothes with legs and arms sticking out of it. Mum said it was a blessed release. She often said that about people dying. (Pause.) I suppose some people thought she killed herself because we kept her locked up and were cruel to her. Perhaps some people thought she was trying to escape and killed herself accidentally. Some people knew the truth, of course. And perhaps there was someone in a train going from Colchester to London. And perhaps he looked out of the window, and perhaps, through the gap in the trees, he saw an old lady in mid-air, flapping her arms up and down. Just for a split second, as the train rushed on, past our house. And he'd look through the window, that man, and he'd be amazed. He'd tell his friend, 'I saw an old lady flying', he'd say. So in a way, it actually happened. What she wanted. Perhaps she died happy. What do you think?
Name of
play: DNA
Plot:
DNA by Dennis Kelly follows the silent yet intimidating, 16 year old Phil, and
his fearful following of misfits as they come to terms with the consequences of
a practical joke that ends in tragedy. This piece deals directly and powerfully
with hard hitting, relevant issues, such as violence, guilt, unrequited love,
tyranny and solidarity within a group of adolescents who have placed themselves
at the edge of society.Character: Richard
Monologue:
Phil, Phil, watch this! Phil, watch me, watch me, Phil!
See? See what I’m doing? Can you see Phil?
When are you going to come back?
Come on, Phil. Come back to us. What do you want to sit up here for? In this field? Don’t you get bored? Don’t you get bored sitting here, everyday, doing nothing?
Everyone’s asking after you. You know that?
Everyone’s saying ‘where’s Phil?’ ‘what’s Phil up to?’ ‘when’s Phil going to
come down from that stupid field?’ ‘wasn’t it good when Phil was running the
show?’ What do you think about? What do you think about everyone asking after
you?
Aren’t you
interested? Aren’t you interested in what’s going on?John Tate’s found god. Yeah, yeah I know. He’s joined the Jesus Army, he runs round the shopping centre singing and trying to give people leaflets. Danny’s doing work experience at a dentist’s. He hates it. Can’t stand the cavities, he says when they open their mouths sometimes it feels like you’re going to fall in.
Brian’s on stronger and stronger medication. They caught him staring at a wall and drooling last week. It’s either drooling or giggling. Keeps talking about earth. I think they're going to section him. Cathy doesn't care. She's too busy running the things. You wouldn't believe how things have got, Phil. She's insane. She cut a first year's finger off, that's what they say anyway. Doesn't that bother you? Aren't you even bothered?
Lou's her best friend, now. Dangerous game. I feel sorry for Lou. And Jan and Mark have taken up shoplifting, they're really good at it, get you anything you want. Phil? Phil!
You can't stay here forever. When are you going to come down?
Nice up here.
As I was coming up
here there was this big wind of fluff. You know, this big wind of fluff, like
dandelions, but smaller, and tons of them, like fluffs of wool or cotton, it
was really weird, I mean it just came out of nowhere, this big wind of fluff,
and for a minute I thought I was in a cloud, Phil. Imagine that. Imagine being
inside a cloud, but with space inside it as well, for a second, as I was coming
up here I felt like I was an alien in a cloud. But really felt it. And in that
second, Phil, I knew that there was life on other planets. I knew we weren't
alone in the universe, I didn't just think it or feel it, I know it, it was as
if the universe was suddenly shifting and giving me a glimpse, this vision that
could see everything, just for a fraction of a heartbeat of a second. But I
couldn't see who they were or what they were doing or how they were living. How do you think they're living, Phil?
How do you think they're living?
There are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on Brighton beach.
Come back, Phil.
Phil?"
Name of the play: When it rains gasoline
Plot: When it Rains Gasoline is a dark piece about the reality of being a high school student in the world today. There are some kids who don't fit in; some kids who have been abused so badly that rage seems to be their only way out. Paul is one of these kids.
Character: Paul
Monologue:
I get along with pretty much all the kids. I know there are a lot of girls that really like me, they're just shy. I'm kinda' shy too. I know what they're going through. I don't expect them to jump out and tell me how they feel, especially with Chris and... Well, you know. This one group of girls... Really popular girls, invited me to a party. I got all dressed up. I was the only boy there. We played a game where they giggled and dared each other to kiss me. None did... I'm sure they were just shy. I... I can really get people to laugh when I do things sometimes. I'm... I'm not really sure what those things are. I mean, I get up from eating lunch and a whole group of kids at the next table starts to laugh. I've thought about becoming a comedian... Especially since I'm so good at making people laugh. Chris and Angus and... I don't like making those guys laugh. Not really. Sometimes they're... I... It's not fun to make them laugh, they... (A painful pregnant pause.) Sometimes I wish that their little hearts would just freeze. I have fantasies about that. Sometimes in my dreams I see people like Chris choking on something. He's motioning for me to help him. He wants me to give him the Hiemlick maneuver or something, but I just stand there. I watch him fall to his knees holding his throat... His face turning blue. For some reason blood starts to come out of his nose and ears. His eyes pop out and blood starts to come from there too. The whole time I know I can save him, but I don't do anything. I watch him die. He's lying there not moving, not doing anything. Suddenly his skin splits open. I expect to see muscles and bones, but... Instead, maggots and spiders and worms start to crawl out of his ravaged body. Then I know what he was... Nothing. He wasn't worth anything to anyone but insects and maggots. Sometimes I think about ending it. It would be so easy to make a statement, to show the world that people like me aren't going to take it anymore. Put a gun to his head... Pull the trigger... See if I'm right about his insides.
Name of
Play: Boy’s life
Plot:Character: Phil
Monologue:
I would have destroyed myself for this woman. Gladly. I would have eaten garbage. I would have sliced my wrists open. Under the right circumstances, I mean, if she said, "Hey, Phil, why don't you just cut your wrists open?" Well, come on, but if seriously... We clicked, we connected on so many things, right off the bat, we talked about God for three hours once. I don't know what good it did, but that intensity... and the first time we went to bed, I didn't even touch her. I didn't want to, understand what I'm saying? And you know, I played it very casually, because, all right, I've had some rough experiences, I'm the first to admit, but after a couple weeks I could feel we were right there, so I laid it down, everything I wanted to tell her, and... and she says to me, she says... "Nobody should ever need another person that badly." Do you believe that? "Nobody should ever...!" What is that? Is that something you saw on TV? I put my heart on the table; you give me Dr. Joyce Brothers? "Need, need," I'm saying I love you, is that so wrong? Is that not allowed anymore? (Pause.) And so what if I did need her? Is that so bad? All right, crucify me, I needed her! So what! I don't want to be by myself, I'm by myself I feel like I'm going out of my mind, I do. I sit there, I'm thinking forget it, I'm not gonna make it through the next ten seconds. I just can't stand it. But I do, somehow, I get through the ten seconds, but then I have to do it all over again, cause they just keep coming, all these... Seconds, floating by, while I'm waiting for something to happen, I don't know what, a car wreck, a nuclear war or something, that sounds awful but at least there'd be this instant when I'd know I was alive. Just once. Cause I look in the mirror, and I can't believe I'm really there. I can't believe that's me. It's like, my body, right, is the size of, what, the Statue of Liberty, and I'm inside it, I'm down in one of the legs, the gigantic hairy leg, I'm scraping around inside my own foot like some tiny fetus. And I don't know who I am or where I'm going. And I wish I'd never been born. (Pause.) Not only that, my hair is falling out, and that really sucks.
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